In another thread, RfM poster (and former law enforcement officer) "forbiddencokedrinker" made reference to what he described as the "Temple Square "gestapo."

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,470597,470844#msg-470844


While I wouldn't necessarily use the same language, I did find them to be power-abusive, based on my own experience with them.
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Here's what happened:

At the invitation of the Ex-Mormon Foundation, back during the first weekend of October 2001 I went to Salt Lake City during LDS General Conference weekend to perform at the Salt Lake public library a "Tunes and Toons" show with ex-evangelical preacher-turned-atheist Dan Barker of the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

The Ex-Mormon Foundation's own alternative conference was being held that same weekend in conjunction with the semi-annual LDS bizarre bazaar on Temple Square.

(For a recap of the ex-Mo event, see Richard Packham's travelog entitled, "Visiting the Sacred Sites of Mormonism," at: http://packham.n4m.org/travelog.htm)

Myself, Dan and a couple of other friends decided to take a tour of Temple Square during our visit, the first stop being the Visitors Center.

Wearing a black shirt with white lettering sporting the word "Godless" (either that one or another black-and-white favorite of mine reading "No Gods, No Masters"--can't remember which, although I've got a photo somewhere of us a few minutes later standing in front of the Christus statue upstairs), I entered the Visitors Center/public relations sanctuary with my heathen, hell-bound buddies.

Immediately upon coming through the doors, we were approached by a pair of neatly-dressed, attractive, friendly, doe-eyed sister missionary greeters with glued-on, big bright smiles. (I was later told by a comely ex-Mormon woman who had herself been a sister missionary assigned to the Temple Square beat that it was indeed the purposeful practice of the Church to place the good-looking lady missionaries on Temple Square in order to draw in the crowds).

One asked me in a chipper voice if I knew anything about the Mormon Church.

I replied that I knew a little.

She began giving her stock floor approach so to avoid an unnecessary waste of her time and mine, I gently informed her that I was the grandson of the former president of the Mormon Church, Ezra Taft Benson.

Her surprised response was, "Didn't you say something on TV that rhymed?" I answered in the affirmative. (She was referring to my April 1996 interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" with Mike Wallace, where I observed that the duty of faithful Mormons was to "pray, pay and obey").

At that point we began a polite, measured conversation about LDS beliefs, standing there inside the Visitors Center entryway at the base of the carpeted stairs on the first level.

Our conversation was further propelled by the sister missionary's next question. How could one explain, she asked, the feeling in one's heart that the Book of Mormon is true?

I kept my answer short and respectfully to the point by replying that religious feelings could actually be accounted for as a combination of a personal desire to believe, along with neurological and chemical reactions in the temporal lobe of brain, which result in what people often interpret as so-called "spiritual" sensations or experiences.

I quickly saw that this response wasn't registering with the sister missionary.

At this point, a serious-looking young man in his late 20s or early 30s, dressed in a dark suit with an earpiece screwed into the side of his head, approached me and the sister missionary.

He interrupted us and said, "We are told that you are having a heated discussion and heated discussions are not allowed here."

The sister missionary with whom I had been conversing in temperate tones turned to the Church security goon and said firmly, "We're not having a heated discussion."

The security dude didn't say anything, ducked his head slightly, fiddled with his earpiece and walked away.

Later that afternoon, my younger brother phoned me to tell me that he had been walking across Temple Square that day himself, when he said he was approached by a Church security guy who recognized him and who told him that I had been asked to leave the Visitors Center because I supposedly had been disruptive.

I explained to my brother that, in fact, I had not been disruptive, that the conversation which I was having with the sister missionary (before we were rudely interrupted by the Mormon Church) was initiated by her, that we were politely talking with each other and that when the security hound approached us the sister missionary herself informed him that we were not engaged in a heated discussion.

Welcome to Red Square on Temple Square--where square-headed Church security snoops are constantly on the look-out for those evil "heated discussions."

What really happened that October General Conference day was that an episode of honest, open and cordial disagreement raised the body heat of Mormon secret undercover, underweared control freaks.

Hear the strains of the Tabernacle Choir floating through the air on Temple Square:

"There is beauty all around when ex-Mos go home . . ."



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2012 05:48PM by steve benson.

Thank you for that lovely insight. My guess is that most of them are guys trying to do their job, but without the training and guidance that is needed to do it correctly. Of course this is the same problem that mall security generally has, but they do not believe they are protecting Jesus.

Temple Square gets a lot of visitors daily, is near downtown Salt Lake City, and thus has a certain need for professional and competent security services, who can work closely with local law enforcement. The fact that they appear to be more interested in keeping people from expressing contrary views to Mormonism, or in stopping gay couples from holding hands, shows that they are probably not spending enough time on being alert for more urgent matters.

That is just my opinion, though being from Florida, I only know these stories second hand. For all I know, they could be the world's premier protection corps.

Oh Steve! Another Sister besides me? Can you please tell her that I was there from 90' 91' I wonder if she served with me? It would be nice to know I was not alone in this ex-mo world from my mission. My last name started with a "J".

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2012 08:00PM by steve benson.

Wait, you are an ex-temple square sister? I now know who my new internet crush is.

I am not so cute anymore...4 kids later. :)

starting Kevin James in, "Temple Cop" or "ELC" (Elite Handshake Club"

here's a line, "Go ahead punk make my day with your heated discussion, I'll send you to hell in a handshake."

most Dummies, standing a few meters away, could tell the tone of a discussion by the body language.

Sheesh.